One of the ringed pratincoles (Photo: K Oake)An observant Maun birder, Ken Oake, recently spotted two Collared Pratincoles with rings (bands) at Lake Ngami, and managed to get a clear photo of one of them. Unfortunately the number on the ring is not legible, making this a somewhat tantalising observation as we cannot be certain of the origin of the bird. It is most likely that it was among the 61 Collared Pratincoles ringed at the Lake during an AFRING training course in December, 2005, and if this is the case, it would mean that the pratincoles are returning to this important site. Only 283 Collared Pratincoles have ever been ringed, so it is great to get a resighting of one of them, even if the information is incomplete.
Birders at Lake Ngami should also keep a look out for other bird species with rings - for example, a large number of Kittlitz's Plovers were ringed there during the AFRING course, and none of them have been re-sighted or recovered to date.
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